Darkness???

Originally Posted by Voda Vosa

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Use Darkness on the other side, for not spoiling Kaddoks light.

Originally Posted by doghead

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Kaddok casts, but his light is unable to counter the inky blackness. His companions, unable to see even their hands in front of their faces let alone anything beyond, find their original intentions thwarted...

???

Darkness is no inky blackness you cannot see in:

This spell causes an object to radiate shadowy illumination out to a 20-foot radius. All creatures in the area gain concealment (20% miss chance). Even creatures that can normally see in such conditions (such as with darkvision or low-light vision) have the miss chance in an area shrouded in magical darkness.

WD - Zarpox may be sitting on the other side of the wagon, but the spell effect has a 20 ft. radius. Which includes Kaddok. Easily. And then some. With a bit left over.

From what I understand of light spells vs darkness, the higher level spell wins. So Kaddok's light (0th level) spell has no effect in the area of the darkness (2nd level).

Good point about the spell effect however. I didn't read it closely enough - I was reading it as even creatures with darkvision cannot see. Sorry.

So how does it work at night. Its a pretty dark night already. So the darkness spell stacks? ie - pretty much sucking up what illumination their is, thus making it pretty much pitch black. Which would pretty much bring us back to where we were. Alternatively, the darkness simply has no effect, as it is already darker than a 'shadowy illumination' effect of the spell.

This spell causes an object to radiate shadowy illumination out to a 20-foot radius. All creatures in the area gain concealment (20% miss chance). Even creatures that can normally see in such conditions (such as with darkvision or low-light vision) have the miss chance in an area shrouded in magical darkness.

Normal lights (torches, candles, lanterns, and so forth) are incapable of brightening the area, as are light spells of lower level. Higher level light spells are not affected by darkness.

If darkness is cast on a small object that is then placed inside or under a lightproof covering, the spell’s effect is blocked until the covering is removed.

I'm glad I am not the only one who thought the darkness spell mechanics left something to be desired. I am inclined to agree that allowing the darkness (night + spell) effects to stack makes it a a bit too powerful. But I also like to keep things simple. Here's what I have been thinking.
* Twilight or gloom: -2 circumstance modifier.
* Night: -4 circumstance modifier. This equates to the darkness 20% (or 4 in 20) miss chance.
Those with low-light or darkvision are not affected by either.
* Darkness spell: -4 circumstance modifier.
Those with low-light vision or dark vision are affected.

Barring any unseen complications, this is what I will go with. I'll try and edit the Round 1 post tonight.

Drop the '20% miss chance due to concealment' all together.

I also think darkness, of the mundane or magical kind, should affect how far characters can see at night. Not sure how to do that however.

Originally Posted by Redclaw

My understanding is that the two cancel each other out where they overlap, leaving the ambient light unaffected.

A light spell (one with the light descriptor) counters and dispels a darkness spell (one with the darkness descriptor) of an equal or lower level.

Light is an orrison, darkness is a second level spell. So a darkness spell trumps a light spell.

Originally Posted by WD

I thought [Zarpox] to be at the front of the caravan and Kaddok at it's back.

I read, and reread the thread trying to determine where the characters were.

Originally Posted by Zarpox

"Aye, I'll go" Zarpox replies, and runs next to Brottor, with his right hand, glowing in blue eldrich energy.

Brottor was at the front of the second wagon, where he could protect the driver and Winison with his shield. So Zarpox went to the front of the second wagon as far as I could tell. Zarpox's comment about "the other side to Kaddok's light spell" seemed to confirm this. They are on the same wagon. Otherwise it wouldn't have mattered.

Alton's position also puzzled me. He dropped his sling to the ground, then half a mile down the track picked it up. So by ground, he must have meant 'floor of the wagon'. So presumable, he is seated on the wagon, not walking beside it.

With the wisdom of hindsight, I should have asked everyone to specify.